Don Richardson (businessman)

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Don Richardson (1930–6 September 2007) was a British businessman who, with his twin brother Roy, built the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill, West Midlands. Born near the Round Oak Steel Works, they formed Richardson Developments in the early 1980s to create jobs in areas hit by de-industrialisation and to take advantage of government enterprise zones. After Round Oak closed in December 1982, the brothers redeveloped the Merry Hill site. By 1985 they completed the first two phases of the shopping centre, part of an enterprise zone offering ten years of rate relief. By 1989 Merry Hill had become one of Europe’s largest shopping centres, with outlets, a cinema and a petrol station; the final phase opened on 14 November 1989. Don Richardson died of cancer in September 2007, aged 77. He was survived by his wife Ann and his brother Roy.